March 2004
Media, Police, Street, Underworld Following last month’s outbreak of gang related violence between the city’s main players, areas of the city have been declared no-go after dark due to continued battles. So far no group has emerged as the clear winner, although both The Daughters of the Desert and The Gambino’s seem to be concentrating their efforts on Sandernacht (a wise strategy given their power within the city). Meanwhile, the newly established Constabulary are looking to surrounding forces for Tactical Firearms Officers, due to the shortage of trained personnel within the city. As yet no one knows who initiated the current hostilities. Police, Politics, Street The apparent three-way massacre of the Daughters of the Desert, The Gambino’s and the Sandernacht Group continues to cause confusion amongst local law enforcement. With members of each group being apparently killed in the same manner (investigations have shown that the groups opened fire on their own members), is a fourth criminal group now in operation within the city? All of this seems of little interest to the general public who are more concerned about the growing body count of bystanders as each group lays waste to each other. Police, Underworld A disturbing fact seems to have emerged from the current gang war in the city. Apparently The Daughters of the Desert are no longer under the control of the mysterious “Shara”. Unconfirmed reports state that she may have moved to Singapore (although no reason for this relocation is given) following December’s crisis. If this is true then the key question is who is now leading The Daughters? And why have they returned to violence given their apparent charitable work in the New Year? Media, Street, Underworld Despite evidence to the contrary, Sandernacht is apparently suing for peace with The Gambino’s and The Daughters of the Desert. Insiders have commented that the manner in which the violence was initiated does not tie in the deaths (if two gangs were to come across each other in the street they are unlikely to open fire on each other unless something is amiss). The key point is that all of the victims seem to have been killed by weapons owned by other members of the same gang. However, Sandernacht’s efforts have been to little avail as the violence continues to spiral out of control. Street, Transport Obviously the biggest market at the moment is firearms. If you want to make a quick buck, sell cheap to anyone who wants them. If you’re looking for a longer term investment you would be better placed to pick a single group to supply and stick with it (rumour has it that this will also lead to you being able to ask for a better price). And of course, with Castelan now out of the picture, it’s once again easier to move firearms into the city. Health, Media, Police, Street, Underworld All three of the major players amongst the city’s gangs are currently on a recruiting drive as the high rate of attrition begins to take its toll. One curious sideline of this is that many recruits are formerly law abiding citizens are choosing to side with one or another gang after family members are cut down in the crossfire elsewhere (the number of civilian casualties is truly appalling). More worrying is the age of some of the applicants, with school children joining in order to revenge wrongs / gain extra cash (delete as deemed applicable). Bureaucracy, Media, Police, Street, University Local schools and colleges have begun installing metal detectors on there entrance doors, after students aligned to different gangs began to take shots at each other. The problem has mainly been confined to schools in poorer areas of the city; although one incident occurred in one of the city’s private schools (it is believed that one of the perpetrators may have had direct links to the Gambino family). One problem is the cost of the project, with local funding already stretched to breaking point due to the need to rebuild parts of the city following December’s events. Bureaucracy, Media, Police, Underworld With all of the current gang violence within the city, the last thing that is needed is for the market to be flooded with military grade munitions, but unfortunately this is the case. Whilst all of Castelans weapon’s deactivated shortly after the attempted coup (a phenomena that is currently being investigated by various groups to see if the, as yet unidentified, technology can be used on other forces weaponry and equipment) many of the munitions were standard off the shelf items (if highly unusual in civilian police force use). The newly established Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary is finding itself facing armour-piercing rounds, tracer bullets and other more exotic munitions (including the fabled “12 Gauge Flame Thrower”). Requests for additional training and supplies have so far fallen on deaf ears. Media, Police, Politics Despite everything that you can accuse Castelan of (and face it, that’s going to be a long list), you can say that they managed to keep gang related violence to a minimum. Indeed, since their creation, the new Constabulary have received less than glowing reviews in comparison with the former force, especially where their arrest record is concerned. Arrests (and subsequent convictions) are down to less than half of Castelan’s monthly average and violent crime has risen the most. Both local politicians and members of The Constabulary refuse to comment upon the issue. Church, Media The Catholic Church has apparently pleaded with The Gambino’s to cease all of their current violence. The unusual step came after members of The Gambino’s were targeted during a Sunday Mass. Media, Occult, Street Rumours abound that The Samurai was seen in the vicinity of last months fire fight between gang members attempting to move civilians out of the area to safety. If this is true, is it possible that there are now two Samurai’s operating in the city? Local police refuse to be drawn on the matter, stating that they are still in pursuit of the criminal and are following a number of leads. However they are continuing to downplay their botched raid on a local Councillor Meeting last month. Media, Police, Underworld Police and authorities continue to hunt for The Samurai following numerous sightings around the city. Complications have arisen following numerous parallel sightings in different parts of the city at the same time. One rumour has it that groups supportive of the vigilante may be trying to cause confusion to delay his arrest (although this theory is slightly damaged by the fact that some seem to be using the identity to carry out crimes). Health, Legal, Media, Politics After a month of discussions, petitions and political bickering, the fate of Andrew Sant has finally been decided. Controversy arose when it emerged that the newly appointed police force were keeping Sant sedated whilst they gathered evidence for his trial. The principal concern that any breaches of the Human Rights Act would jeopardize the legality of the case against Sant and that it was more important to ensure a secure conviction than any concerns regarding the possibility of Sant escaping. Sant has since been transported to an undisclosed purpose made facility (which was checked by Human Rights Groups prior to the transfer), where he will remain until the trial. Bureaucracy, Legal, Media Following the controversy surrounding his incarceration and the subsequent relocation of Andrew Sant, a date has been scheduled for his trial. Sant will come before a specially appointed military tribunal in late June (the choice to be prosecuted under military law rather than civil arising from his arrest by the Army and subsequent discussions amongst lawyers). It is expected that the trial will last two months, during which time a number of secondary trials of other Castelan Officers will also occur as part of the proceedings, but under the aegis of a civil law in order to retain the distinction (and thus allowing the trials to form part of the evidence of the Sant trial). Media, Occult Despite the best efforts of a number of reporters both from in the city and elsewhere, no one has yet been able to ascertain the current location of Andrew Sant. Although the proposed prison was checked by the members of a number of Human Rights Groups, these individuals were from agreed groups with no members within the country to maintain security. It is feared that a number of parties would attempt to assassinate Sant if given the chance (not least the remaining dozen or so members of the upper echelons of Castelan who remain at large). Meanwhile all those who come into contact with Sant are being subjected to a careful vetting procedure in order to avoid an embarrassing incident. High Society, Media, Occult, University An interesting aside to the capture of Sant is that details of his prior life are finally being made known to the public. A graduate of Cambridge University, Sant was apparently investigated by the authorities prior to his graduation for his involvement in a laboratory accident that killed four others (although no charges were filed). Graduating with a First Class Degree in Physics, he subsequently also studied the burgeoning world of Computer Sciences before beginning work for an unnamed multi-national company. Whilst all of this will have little bearing upon his trial, some elements of the media have already begun to re-examine his role in the death of his contemporaries at university. Bureaucracy, Media, Police Only a dozen or so members of the upper echelons of Castelan remain at large. Investigations are now focusing upon how these individuals were able to leave the area undetected given the large military / police presence in the county towards the end of the coup. In addition agents from a number of international intelligence agencies are focusing their attentions upon South America where it is believed the majority have fled. Industry, Police The former Castelan Headquarters have now been fully explored after specialist digging teams were bought in from outside of the county. However fears were quickly confirmed when a number of unidentified dead bodies were found in the secured areas, the victims of starvation. No further details have been released. Health, Occult Local police don’t know what to make of the bodies they found in Castelan’s HQ. Some appeared to have been barely human and investigators are now asking if the group was involved in illegal experiments into eugenics / selective breeding. Doctors were bought in from the local hospitals and universities and they didn’t have a clue either, but whatever they saw must have been important as they’ve all been required to sign a secrecy contract afterwards. Finance, High Society, Industry, Media, Politics Although several key members of the Crimson Jihad (sic) were implicated in Castelan’s failed coup it would seem that some members are keen for the charitable work of the organization to continue. Under the aegis of “Scarlet”, the group is set to re-launch in the late spring. However, some politicians are already calling for stricter controls on such groups to avoid future problems. All this seems to have had little effect upon the mysterious driving force behind this endeavor, who seems keen that the group commence charitable work has soon as possible. Church, Finance, Media Whilst the reformed Crimson Jihad (sic), or “Scarlet” as they seem to prefer, would appear to be a good idea, some have begun to question whether the city will start to suffer from “Charity Fatigue”. Indeed last years figures showed almost a fifty percent drop in the number of donations made to charities. And with the current gang warfare creating a mood of “doomed resistance” it seems likely that people will be keeping what little cash they have for themselves.